Tuesday, March 15, 2011

WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES

Earlier today I purchased a copy of The Birmingham News while waiting for my meal at IHOP. The following “above the fold” headline in the Local section caught my attention. “Wi-Fi program touted as model.” Cutting to the chase, this is a federally funded program to put free Wi-Fi in four Birmingham housing projects. The cost of the program is a mere $500,000.

The worth or worthlessness of the program is not at issue here. Whether the people who live in a housing project deserve free Wi-Fi any more than I do in my modest abode is also not the issue. The one overriding issue of this blog is that we are broke. The federal government does not have any extra, or for that matter sufficient, funds to operate without substantial borrowing.

To put this on a more personal basis; let's assume that last year you spent $100,000 but earned only $60,000. And this year it looks about the same so you are planning to install Wi-Fi in your house. You justify it by saying that it will help you find a better job or learn more about the world and your kids do their homework. But you don't have the money. Is this something you would do?

Recall that this program is a “model” program. That means that the federal government, though borrowing your kids' and grand kids' money from China, is considering putting in free Wi-Fi in many more housing projects.

In the same paper there is a column by E.J. Dionne who says that we are not broke. To bolster his argument he points out that we are able to borrow money at historically low rates. Well, Mr. Dionne if we have to borrow money to operate we are broke. At least in my part of the country when you are borrowing money to live on you are by definition broke. It is foolish people like you who contribute to the overall ignorance of our population about the seriousness of our monetary problems.

But you liberals can be happy that four housing projects will be getting free Wi-Fi. Not free of course, but free to them. How you destroy this nation's future for projects like this and cowboy poets is beyond my ability to comprehend.

About Me

Jack Kean is an author and columnist who frequently writes on a variety of topics. His web site, It's A Kean World is located at http://www.keanwriter.com You can see his other sites: http://www.dogsuppliesandtraining.yolasite.com and http://www.rvfunandfacts.yolasite.com